The winners of the School Librarian of the Year Awards 2020 were announced at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. In association with The Executive Council of Dubai, the prestigious awards were presented by Emirates Literature Foundation, to recognise the individuals that showed exceptional commitment to promote reading for pleasure among students, and to raising academic and literacy standards.
More than 123 nominations were submitted from around the country. Finalists were assessed by a panel of judges. The judges visited the shortlisted librarians to make their final assessment ahead of the final decision. The award was judged in two categories – school librarians from UAE public schools and school librarians from UAE private schools.
The winners were presented with their awards by Aisha Abdulla Miran, Assistant Secretary General for Strategy, Management and Governance with the Executive Council of Dubai; Isobel Abulhoul OBE, CEO and Trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation and authors Lucy Strange and Hussain Al Mutawaa.
The winners are:
Private schools
1st : Alan Jacques, Uptown School (Dubai)
2nd : Caroline Lewis, RAK Academy (Ras Al Khaimah)
3rd : Jessica Raeside, Dubai International Academy – Emirates Hills (Dubai)
Public schools
1st : Suhair Jalal Abdulrahman, Rawdat Al Oula (Abu Dhabi)
2nd : Marwa Magdy Ali Mohammed, Baya’at Al Radwan (Ghayathi, Abu Dhabi)
3rd : Sheikha Ali Saif Bin Abed Almari, Salma Al Ansariah Primary School (Dubai)
Special recognition: Yasser Mohammed Abdul Mutalib Ibrahim, Majd Model School (Sharjah)